ABM Industries Inc (ABM) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greeting and welcome to the ABM Industries Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

歡迎參加 ABM Industries 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。正式演講後將舉行問答環節。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host Mr. Paul Goldberg, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我想將會議交給東道主投資者關係高級副總裁保羅·戈德堡先生。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to ABM's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. My name is Paul Goldberg and I'm the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at ABM. With me today are Scott Salmirs, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Earl Ellis, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

大家早安，歡迎參加 ABM 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。我叫 Paul Goldberg，是 ABM 投資人關係資深副總裁。今天與我在一起的有我們的總裁兼執行長 Scott Salmirs；以及我們的執行副總裁兼財務長 Earl Ellis。

Please note that earlier this morning, we issued our press release announcing our third quarter 2024 financial results. A copy of that release and an accompanying slide presentation can be found on our website abm.com. After Scott and Earl's prepared remarks, we will host a Q&A session.

請注意，今天上午早些時候，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布了 2024 年第三季的財務業績。該新聞稿的副本和隨附的幻燈片簡報可以在我們的網站 abm.com 上找到。在史考特和厄爾準備好發言後，我們將舉辦問答環節。

But before we get started, I would like to remind you that our call and presentation today contains predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements. Our use of the words estimate, expect and similar expressions are intended to identify these statements, and they represent our current judgment of what the future holds.

但在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，我們今天的電話會議和演示包含預測、估計和其他前瞻性陳述。我們使用「估計」、「期望」和類似表達方式的目的是為了識別這些陳述，它們代表了我們目前對未來的判斷。

While we believe them to be reasonable, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially. These factors are described in the slide that accompanies our presentation as well as our filings with the SEC.

雖然我們認為它們是合理的，但這些陳述本質上存在風險和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際結果出現重大差異。這些因素在我們的簡報以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件隨附的幻燈片中進行了描述。

During the course of this call, certain non-GAAP financial information will be presented. A reconciliation of historical non-GAAP numbers to GAAP financial measures is available at the end of the presentation and on the company's website under the Investor tab.

在本次電話會議期間，將提供某些非 GAAP 財務資訊。歷史非 GAAP 數據與 GAAP 財務指標的對帳可在簡報末尾以及公司網站的「投資者」標籤下找到。

And with that I would like to now turn the call over to Scott.

我現在想把電話轉給史考特。

Thanks, Paul. Good morning and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our third quarter results. ABM posted another strong quarter driven by double-digit growth in Technical Solutions and Aviation and supported by the continued resilience of our business and industry segments.

謝謝，保羅。早安，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的第三季業績。在技​​術解決方案和航空業務兩位數成長的推動下，以及我們業務和產業部門持續彈性的支持下，ABM 又迎來了一個強勁的季度。

Once again, our team did a great job focusing on our clients and executing in still choppy commercial real estate markets, enabling us to generate solid organic revenue growth on an enterprise level and post-resilient margins.

我們的團隊再次出色地專注於客戶並在仍然動蕩的商業房地產市場中執行，使我們能夠在企業層面和後彈性利潤率上實現穩定的有機收入成長。

We delivered adjusted EPS of $0.94, which is slightly ahead of our expectations. ABM's business model, which last quarter I described as a consistent cash generating flywheel was in full force in Q3 as we leveraged our capital light model, scale and leading market positions to strengthen our enterprise through our internal ELEVATE initiatives especially our technology road map.

我們的調整後每股收益為 0.94 美元，略高於我們的預期。 ABM 的業務模式（上個季度我將其描述為持續產生現金的飛輪）在第三季度全面發揮作用，因為我們利用我們的輕資本模式、規模和領先的市場地位，透過我們的內部ELEVATE 計劃（特別是我們的技術路線圖）來增強我們的企業。

During the quarter, we continued to make progress delivering our core janitorial and engineering services through advanced use of data and analytics such as our workforce productivity optimization tool or WPO as we call it.

本季度，我們透過先進地使用數據和分析（例如我們的勞動力生產力優化工具或我們所說的 WPO），在提供核心清潔和工程服務方面繼續取得進展。

Simply said, WPO, which is being piloted at multiple sites is an analytics tool set that allows operators to easily identify opportunities for productivity improvements. It benchmarks productivity based on facility profiles to ensure we're operating as efficiently as we should based on the facility archetype.

簡而言之，正在多個站點進行試點的 WPO 是一個分析工具集，可讓操作員輕鬆識別生產力提高的機會。它根據設施概況對生產力進行基準測試，以確保我們根據設施原型盡可能有效地運作。

We've already begun to see benefits of this technology in terms of improved efficiency and client outcomes and look forward to more broadly implementing these new tools over the next couple of years.

我們已經開始看到這項技術在提高效率和客戶成果方面的好處，並期待在未來幾年內更廣泛地實施這些新工具。

We also acquired Quality Uptime Services, which expands our position in the fast-growing data center vertical by adding new capabilities in uninterrupted power supply systems and battery maintenance. We were able to complement these growth and self-help initiatives with additional capital returns to our shareholders via our long-standing dividend.

我們也收購了 Quality Uptime Services，透過增加不間斷供電系統和電池維護的新功能，擴大了我們在快速成長的資料中心垂直領域的地位。我們能夠透過我們的長期股利為股東提供額外的資本回報，以補充這些成長和自助舉措。

Continual investments to build and strengthen our core strategic investments in complementary services and markets that offer secularly high growth rates and steady returns of capital to our shareholders via our long standing dividend are the key initiatives in our go-forward plan.

我們未來計畫的關鍵舉措是持續投資，建立和加強我們對互補服務和市場的核心策略投資，透過我們的長期股利為股東提供長期高成長率和穩定的資本回報。

Our diversification, scalability and the essential nature of the services we provide, all underpin the consistency and resiliency of our results, which, in a sense, fuels our strong cash flow.

我們的多元化、可擴展性和我們提供的服務的本質，所有這些都支撐著我們業績的一致性和彈性，從某種意義上說，這推動了我們強勁的現金流。

Now let me quickly run through what we're seeing in our markets before I turn it over to Earl for the financials. Our B&I segment has remained quite resilient, benefiting from our diverse client and service mix, our leading market position and our penetration in the higher-performing Class A segment of the market.

現在讓我快速瀏覽一下我們在市場上看到的情況，然後再將其交給厄爾以了解財務狀況。我們的 B&I 部門保持了相當的彈性，這得益於我們多樣化的客戶和服務組合、領先的市場地位以及我們在表現更好的 A 類市場的滲透率。

We've also done a nice job diversifying geographically and we continue to renew business throughout the US such as the janitorial business of the MetLife building, a large marquee property here in New York.

我們在地理多元化方面也做得很好，我們繼續在美國各地更新業務，例如紐約大都會人壽大廈的清潔業務，這是紐約的大型房地產。

Although we're not ready to say commercial real estate market is rebounding, things seem to be firming up and pressure to return to offices is definitely on the rise. This was highlighted by a recent survey conducted by CBRE, whereby 38% of the 225 corporate real estate executives polled that they plan to expand their office space in the next three years. This is up from 20% in last year's poll.

儘管我們還沒有準備好說商業房地產市場正在反彈，但情況似乎正在變得堅挺，重返辦公室的壓力肯定在增加。世邦魏理仕最近進行的一項調查突顯了這一點，在接受調查的 225 家企業房地產高管中，有 38% 的人計劃在未來三年內擴大辦公空間。這比去年民調的 20% 有所上升。

Also 37% of those surveys anticipate downsizing versus 53% in the prior year. We're also closely monitoring this dynamic situation and talking with our clients about their plans. We believe we need another quarter or two to get a clearer picture of the timing and scope of the potential recovery, but we're optimistic.

此外，37% 的調查預計將裁員，而去年這一比例為 53%。我們也在密切關注這一動態局勢，並與我們的客戶討論他們的計劃。我們認為，我們還需要一兩個季度才能更清楚地了解潛在復甦的時間和範圍，但我們對此持樂觀態度。

Our manufacturing and distribution markets continue to be healthy driven by a generally strong industrial economy, secular growth in the US semiconductor and data center markets and the general trends towards onshoring manufacturing in the US.

在整體強勁的工業經濟、美國半導體和資料中心市場的長期成長以及美國本土製造業的整體趨勢的推動下，我們的製造和分銷市場繼續保持健康。

We've continued to win new business in these markets and have invested in important resources to further leverage these trends. These robust markets and our growth initiatives addressing them have helped to partially mitigate the previously discussed rebalancing of work from a large client.

我們繼續在這些市場贏得新業務，並投資重要資源以進一步利用這些趨勢。這些強勁的市場和我們針對這些市場的成長舉措有助於部分緩解先前討論的大客戶工作的重新平衡。

I'm also proud of the team as we have proactively let some other business go where we were not receiving appropriate value for the service we are providing. I have confidence that our M&D segment will quickly return to mid-single-digit organic growth once the rebalancing annualizes, if not before.

我也為這個團隊感到自豪，因為我們主動讓其他一些業務轉移到我們所提供的服務無法獲得適當價值的地方。我相信，一旦再平衡實現年度化（如果不是之前的話），我們的研發部門將迅速恢復到中個位數的有機成長。

Aviation is having an amazing year and there are markets remain very healthy. We have emerged as a clear leader in the Aviation facilities management space driven by the industry's best team and by our technology leadership, including our award-winning ABM clean product line.

航空業經歷了令人驚嘆的一年，而且有些市場仍然非常健康。在業界最優秀的團隊和我們的技術領先地位（包括我們屢獲殊榮的 ABM 清潔產品線）的推動下，我們已成為航空設施管理領域的明顯領導者。

I'm thrilled our Aviation segment has grown to be a $1 billion business but I'm even more encouraged by the margin improvements we've made over the last few years. It's a clear indication of the value we provide and our strategy around client segmentation. Although we aren't expecting to continue to deliver double-digit growth quarter after quarter as the sector normalizes, I have no doubt Aviation will remain strong going forward.

我很高興我們的航空業務已成長為價值 10 億美元的業務，但更讓我感到鼓舞的是我們在過去幾年中取得的利潤率提高。這清楚地表明了我們提供的價值以及我們圍繞客戶細分的策略。儘管隨著產業的正常化，我們預計不會繼續季度實現兩位數成長，但我毫不懷疑航空業未來將保持強勁。

Education remains solid. Although it's not our fastest-growing segment, it is typically very stable and provides a foundation of earnings and cash flow that can be utilized across ABM. We also believe there's an opportunity to grow in education especially with larger school districts, colleges and universities, which can greatly benefit from our ABM Performance Solutions offering known as APS.

教育依然紮實。儘管它不是我們成長最快的細分市場，但它通常非常穩定，並為整個 ABM 提供了可利用的收益和現金流的基礎。我們也相信，教育領域存在發展機會，尤其是較大的學區、學院和大學，它們可以從我們稱為 APS 的 ABM 性能解決方案產品中受益匪淺。

As a reminder, APS is our single source operating model which delivers integrated end-to-end facility services, generating cost and operating efficiencies through one contract, one invoice and one source of accountability. Like we've done with Providence School District, Utica University and others, we remain focused on bringing new APS clients aboard.

需要提醒的是，APS 是我們的單一來源營運模式，可提供整合的端到端設施服務，透過一份合約、一張發票和一個責任來源產生成本和營運效率。就像我們與普羅維登斯學區、尤蒂卡大學和其他大學所做的一樣，我們仍然專注於吸引新的 APS 客戶。

Lastly, regarding Technical Solutions, our microgrid business is thriving, driven by a large contract won last year. And while our RavenVolt team progresses on that contract, we continue pursuing numerous other opportunities with several other prospects seeking traditional microgrids as well as the battery energy storage systems.

最後，關於技術解決方案，在去年贏得的大合約的推動下，我們的微型電網業務正在蓬勃發展。在我們的 RavenVolt 團隊在該合約上取得進展的同時，我們繼續與其他尋求傳統微電網以及電池儲能係統的潛在客戶一起尋求許多其他機會。

We expect the need for energy resiliency and redundancy will only grow over time. Similarly, we know the proliferation of AI will drive significant growth in data center and mission-critical infrastructure and we have a growing position in this market.

我們預計對能源彈性和冗餘的需求只會隨著時間的推移而增長。同樣，我們知道人工智慧的普及將推動資料中心和關鍵任務基礎設施的顯著成長，並且我們在這個市場中的地位不斷增強。

While our bundled Energy Solutions business is still soft, we believe the anticipated reduction in interest rates later this year and beyond that, will improve projected ROIs and hopefully restart the market.

雖然我們的捆綁能源解決方案業務仍然疲軟，但我們相信，預計今年稍後及之後的利率下降將提高預計的投資回報率，並有望重啟市場。

In all, we feel good about our markets. So there are still challenges to overcome both macro and specific to our industry. We had a great third quarter and have confidence we will finish the year well. As such, we are raising our full year guidance for adjusted EPS and now expected to be in the range of $3.48 to $3.55 versus our prior range of $3.40 to $3.50.

總而言之，我們對我們的市場感覺良好。因此，我們行業仍然存在著需要克服的宏觀和具體挑戰。我們第三季的表現非常出色，並且有信心能夠出色地完成今年的工作。因此，我們提高了調整後每股收益的全年指引，目前預計為 3.48 美元至 3.55 美元，而之前的區間為 3.40 美元至 3.50 美元。

With that, let me turn it over to Earl to walk you through the details and I'll be back shortly with some final comments.

接下來，讓我將其交給厄爾，讓您了解詳細信息，我很快就會回來提出一些最終評論。

Good morning, everyone. As Scott mentioned, we are quite pleased with our third quarter results, which are a representation of the trends we've experienced over the last three quarters, namely steady organic growth on an enterprise level, strong execution and solid cash generation.

大家早安。正如史考特所經歷的，我們對第三季的業績非常滿意，這代表了我們在過去三個季度所經歷的趨勢，即企業層面的穩定有機成長、強大的執行力和穩健的現金產生。

I'd like to take the moment to recognize our team for the great work they've done this year. For those of you following along with our earnings presentation, please turn to slide 5.

我想藉此機會表彰我們的團隊今年所做的出色工作。對於那些關注我們的收益簡報的人，請翻到投影片 5。

Third quarter revenue of $2.1 billion increased 3.3%, comprised of 2.8% organic growth and the balance driven by our recent acquisition. Organic revenue growth was led by Technical Solutions and Aviation, which both grew double-digits, while Education posted mid-single-digit growth. Our B&I segment remained resilient, declining by only 1% benefiting from our diverse client and service base.

第三季營收為 21 億美元，成長 3.3%，其中包括 2.8% 的有機成長和我們最近收購推動的餘額。有機收入成長由技術解決方案和航空業務引領，均實現兩位數成長，而教育業務實現中個位數成長。我們的 B&I 部門保持彈性，受益於我們多元化的客戶和服務基礎，僅下降了 1%。

Lastly, as expected, manufacturing and distributions revenue declined 1% as the rebalancing impact we have previously discussed began to materialize. Moving on to slide 6. Third quarter net income of $4.7 million or $0.07 per diluted share was down year-over-year.

最後，正如預期的那樣，隨著我們之前討論的再平衡影響開始顯現，製造和分銷收入下降了 1%。繼續看投影片 6。

This decrease was primarily attributable to a $73.2 million year-over-year impact from prior year and current year adjustments to contingent consideration related to the RavenVolt acquisition as well as the absence this year of a $22.4 million employee retention credit that was recognized in last year's third quarter.

這一減少主要是由於去年和本年度與 RavenVolt 收購相關的或有對價調整產生了 7,320 萬美元的同比影響，以及今年沒有在去年的財務報表中確認的 2,240 萬美元的員工保留信貸。

We also recorded unfavorable prior year insurance adjustments and higher corporate investments as planned. These items were partially offset by improved segment operating results and lower elevated costs.

我們也記錄了上一年不利的保險調整和按計劃增加的企業投資。這些項目被改善的部門經營績效和較低的高成本部分抵銷。

Earnings per share further benefited from a lower share count. Of note, the contingent consideration adjustment relates to RavenVolt significantly improved 2024 performance, as Scott mentioned, and the increased likelihood of a payout under their acquisition earn-out plan.

每股收益進一步受益於股份數量的減少。值得注意的是，正如斯科特所提到的，或有對價調整與 RavenVolt 2024 年業績的顯著改善以及根據其收購收益計劃支付的可能性增加有關。

Adjusted net income of $59.5 million and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.94, increased 13% and 19%, respectively, over the prior year period. These increases were largely driven by improved segment operating results, especially in Aviation and Technical Solutions, partially offset by higher year-over-year corporate costs.

調整後淨利為 5,950 萬美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 0.94 美元，分別較上年同期成長 13% 及 19%。這些成長主要是由於部門經營績效的改善，特別是在航空和技術解決方案領域，部分被年比公司成本上升所抵銷。

Adjusted EPS also benefited from a lower share count driven by share repurchases last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2% to $128.1 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.4% was consistent with last year.

調整後每股盈餘也受惠於去年股票回購導致的股票數量減少。調整後 EBITDA 成長 2%，達到 1.281 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.4%，與去年持平。

Now turning to our segment results beginning on slide 7. B&I revenue of $1 billion declined 1%. We continue to benefit from our end market diversification, including our geographic footprint, our exposure to the sport and entertainment and health care markets and from our mix of higher performing Class A properties.

現在轉向我們從幻燈片 7 開始的部門業績。我們繼續受益於我們的終端市場多元化，包括我們的地理足跡、我們對體育、娛樂和醫療保健市場的投資，以及我們表現更好的 A 級資產組合。

This purposeful positioning has aided us in avoiding a more significant impact resulting from the soft commercial real estate market. Operating profit in B&I declined 1% to $77.8 million, while operating margin remained flat at 7.7%. Margin benefited from our continued focus on price realization and cost management.

這種有目的的定位幫助我們避免了商業房地產市場疲軟帶來的更重大影響。 B&I 的營業利潤下降 1%，至 7,780 萬美元，而營業利潤率持平，為 7.7%。利潤率得益於我們對價格實現和成本管理的持續關注。

Aviation revenue grew 13% to $268.4 million, driven by healthy travel markets and new business wins from both the airport and airline sides of the business. As Scott mentioned, Aviation is well on track to be a $1 billion segment for ABM this year in large measure due to our advantaged ABM clean service line.

在健康的旅遊市場以及機場和航空公司雙方新業務的推動下，航空收入成長了 13%，達到 2.684 億美元。正如 Scott 所提到的，由於我們擁有優勢的 ABM 清潔服務線，航空今年有望成為 ABM 價值 10 億美元的細分市場。

Aviation's operating profit was $17.8 million, up 52% and margin was 6.6%, an increase of 170 basis points. Operating leverage on higher volume and favorable service mix were significant contributors to the increase in margin.

航空業營業利潤為 1,780 萬美元，成長 52%，利潤率為 6.6%，成長 170 個基點。較高銷售量和有利服務組合的營運槓桿是利潤率成長的重要因素。

Turning to slide 8. Manufacturing and distributions revenue declined 1% to $377.1 million primarily due to the expected rebalancing of work by a large e-commerce customer, which we discussed on prior calls, partially offset by growth with other clients.

轉向幻燈片8。抵消。

We continue to work hard to offset the rebalancing through the addition of new business and we believe we have a clear path to positive growth in the second half of 2025. However, the impact of this rebalancing will continue for the next few quarters.

我們繼續努力透過增加新業務來抵消再平衡的影響，我們相信我們有明確的道路在 2025 年下半年實現正增長。

Operating profit increased 8% to $40.9 million and operating margin increased 90 basis points to 10.9%. Profit and margin improvement was largely due to a favorable customer mix including some client rationalization for underperforming contracts.

營業利益成長 8%，達到 4,090 萬美元，營業利益率成長 90 個基點，達到 10.9%。利潤和利潤率的改善主要歸功於有利的客戶組合，包括一些客戶對錶現不佳的合約的合理化。

Education revenue increased 4% to $228.3 million, benefiting from the increased activity on a number of cost plus accounts. We also continue to win new business in the quarter with the addition of Auburn University, which will be onboarded early next fiscal year.

教育收入成長 4%，達到 2.283 億美元，受益於一些成本加成帳戶活動的增加。隨著奧本大學的加入，我們在本季繼續贏得新業務，大學將於下財年初加入。

Education operating profit was seasonally strong at $18 million, up 13% and margin was 7.9%, an increase of 60 basis points. This was largely attributable to improved labor efficiency. Technical Solutions revenue grew 25% in total to $209.7 million, including 20% organic growth and 5% from the acquisition of Quality Uptime Services.

教育營業利潤季節性強勁，達到 1,800 萬美元，成長 13%，利潤率為 7.9%，成長 60 個基點。這主要歸功於勞動效率的提升。技術解決方案收入總計成長 25%，達到 2.097 億美元，其中包括 20% 的自然成長和收購 Quality Uptime Services 帶來的 5%。

Organic growth was driven by a strong microgrid project activity. Bundled Energy Solutions and EV project activity remains soft. However, we expect a strong finish to the year in Technical Solutions, driven by constructive macro trends in energy resiliency and data centers and further progress on the microgrid projects we have already booked.

有機成長是由強勁的微電網專案活動推動的。捆綁能源解決方案和電動車專案活動依然疲軟。然而，我們預計，在能源彈性和資料中心建設性宏觀趨勢以及我們已經預訂的微電網專案取得進一步進展的推動下，技術解決方案今年將取得強勁收官。

Technical Solutions operating profit grew 56% to $17.9 million, and margin expanded 170 basis points to 8.5%. These improvements were a result of significantly higher volume and lower acquisition-related amortization.

Technical Solutions 營運利潤成長 56%，達到 1,790 萬美元，利潤率成長 170 個基點，達到 8.5%。這些改進是銷售量顯著增加和收購相關攤銷降低的結果。

Moving on to slide 9. We ended the third quarter with total indebtedness of $1.4 billion, including $57.9 million of standby letters of credit, resulting in a total debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.5 times.

繼續看投影片 9。

At the end of Q3, we had available liquidity of $513.9 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $86.3 million. Free cash flow in the third quarter was $64 million with third quarter comparables being impacted by the timing of accounts payable and the non-repeat of a $22 million employee retention credit received last year.

截至第三季末，我們的可用流動資金為 5.139 億美元，其中現金和現金等價物為 8,630 萬美元。第三季自由現金流為 6,400 萬美元，第三季可比較數據受到應付帳款時間和去年收到的 2,200 萬美元員工保留信貸不再重複的影響。

Throughout the nine months of 2024, we have generated $152 million in free cash flow this year or $187 million after normalizing for in-year ELEVATE and integration costs. This is up $16 million or 9% over the last year's normalized free cash flow of $170 million, which is adjusted for the receipt of the employee retention credit, repayment of the CARES Act and in-year ELEVATE and integration costs.

在 2024 年的九個月中，我們今年產生了 1.52 億美元的自由現金流，在年內 ELEVATE 和整合成本正常化後為 1.87 億美元。這比去年 1.7 億美元的正常化自由現金流增加了 1,600 萬美元，即 9%，該現金流根據員工保留信貸的收到、《CARES 法案》的償還以及年內的 ELEVATE 和整合成本進行了調整。

Cash flow generation continues to be a hallmark of ABM and is a product of our asset-light and flexible business model complemented by our consistent focus on working capital management. Interest expense was $21.2 million, slightly higher than prior year.

現金流生成仍然是 ABM 的標誌，是我們輕資產和彈性業務模式的產物，並輔以我們對營運資本管理的一貫關注。利息支出為 2,120 萬美元，略高於上年。

Regarding third quarter capital allocation, we made one acquisition for $118 million. We also paid dividends of $14.1 million. We did not repurchase any stock in the quarter and the remaining authorization under our share repurchase program is $186 million.

關於第三季資本配置，我們以 1.18 億美元進行了一項收購。我們還支付了 1410 萬美元的股息。本季我們沒有回購任何股票，股票回購計畫下的剩餘授權為 1.86 億美元。

Now let's move on to our revised full year fiscal 2024 outlook, as shown on slide 10. As Scott mentioned, we are raising our full year guidance for adjusted EPS based on our strong third quarter results and our confidence in a solid finish to the year.

現在，讓我們繼續討論修訂後的2024 財年全年展望，如幻燈片10 所示。提高調整後每股盈餘的全年指引。

As such, we now expect full year 2024 adjusted EPS to be in the range of $3.48 to $3.55, up from $3.40 to $3.50 previously, representing a $0.07 increase at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be around 6.3% for the full year. Our interest expense forecast is unchanged at $82 million to $86 million and the normalized tax rate before discrete items is expected to be between 29% to 30%.

因此，我們現在預計 2024 年全年調整後每股收益將在 3.48 美元至 3.55 美元之間，高於先前的 3.40 美元至 3.50 美元，中間值增加 0.07 美元。全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率預計約 6.3%。我們的利息支出預測維持在 8,200 萬至 8,600 萬美元不變，不計離散項目的標準化稅率預計在 29% 至 30% 之間。

Lastly, full year normalized free cash flow is likely to be near the top end of our $240 million to $270 million range, if not a little higher. This forecast excludes the estimated $45 million of ELEVATE and integration costs.

最後，全年正常化自由現金流可能接近 2.4 億至 2.7 億美元範圍的上限，甚至更高一點。該預測不包括估計 4500 萬美元的 ELEVATE 和整合成本。

With that, let me turn it back to Scott for closing comments.

說到這裡，讓我把它轉回給斯科特以供結束評論。

Thanks, Earl. While we're very pleased with our performance in fiscal 2024, we know ABM can be even more.

謝謝，厄爾。雖然我們對 2024 財年的業績非常滿意，但我們知道 ABM 可以做得更好。

Supported by a resilient, flexible and cash generative business model, our investment in technology, new capabilities and most importantly, our people, we are positioned for sustained success. We're expanding our core through cross-selling, advanced analytics and innovative go-to-market strategies with additional opportunity on the horizon.

在有彈性、靈活且能產生現金的業務模式、我們對技術、新能力以及最重要的是我們的員工的投資的支持下，我們有能力取得持續的成功。我們正在透過交叉銷售、高級分析和創新的上市策略來擴展我們的核心業務，並帶來更多機會。

These initiatives are being complemented with investments in new capabilities like microgrids and mission-critical services, which we believe will drive higher growth rates expand margin over time and further set us apart from the competition.

這些舉措得到了對微電網和關鍵任務服務等新功能的投資的補充，我們相信這將推動更高的成長率，隨著時間的推移擴大利潤率，並進一步使我們在競爭中脫穎而出。

Thanks again for joining our call today. And with that let's take some questions.

再次感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。接下來讓我們提出一些問題。

At this time, we'll be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

此時，我們將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Tim Mulrooney, William Blair.

提姆·馬爾魯尼，威廉·布萊爾。

Scott, Earl, good morning.

史考特，厄爾，早安。

Good morning.

早安.

Morning.

早晨。

So on the guide, just real quick, it looks like your previous expectation, I think, was more for EPS to be kind of balanced between the third quarter and the fourth quarter. But now based on your guide, it looks like you expect the third quarter to be maybe $0.10 or so higher than the fourth quarter in EPS. Is this just a simple case of more revenue being pulled into the third quarter than you were initially expecting or are there other factors that warrant consideration here?

因此，在指南上，很快，我認為您先前的預期似乎是每股收益在第三季和第四季之間保持平衡。但現在根據您的指南，您預計第三季的每股盈餘可能會比第四季高出 0.10 美元左右。這只是一個簡單的例子，即第三季的收入比您最初預期的要多，還是還有其他因素值得考慮？

Yes. No, thanks for the question, Tim. When we look at the Q3 quarter, we were really pleased with the performance across the portfolio. But in particular, our Technical Solutions business and especially RavenVolt really outperformed why you're not necessarily seeing that flow through to the Q4 to the same extent is really what you're going to see in M&D.

是的。不，謝謝你的提問，提姆。當我們看到第三季時，我們對整個投資組合的表現非常滿意。但特別是，我們的技術解決方案業務，尤其是 RavenVolt 確實表現出色，為什麼您不一定會看到第四季度的流量與您在 M&D 中看到的情況相同。

And as we talked about, we're actually experiencing that rebalancing of one of our major customers in M&D. That started in Q3, but will fully ramp up in Q4. And we'll actually see that impact over the next several quarters.

正如我們所討論的，我們實際上正在經歷 M&D 的主要客戶之一的重新平衡。這從第三季開始，但將在第四季全面加速。我們實際上將在接下來的幾個季度看到這種影響。

Okay. That's very helpful. Thank you, Earl. And my second question is on segment margins because we're seeing some really nice improvement here across a lot of these segments, I mean, Aviation was 6.6%, I think, in the quarter. I think our model was about 5.5% and M&D came in at 10.9%.

好的。這非常有幫助。謝謝你，厄爾。我的第二個問題是關於細分市場的利潤率，因為我們在許多細分市場中看到了一些非常好的改善，我的意思是，我認為本季航空業的利潤率為 6.6%。我認為我們的模型約為 5.5%，而 M&D 為 10.9%。

I think we were at 10.0%. So I know the EPS beat here was driven by ATS to a large degree. But also want to note the profitability across a lot of these segment margins here.

我認為我們的比例是 10.0%。所以我知道每股盈餘的成長在很大程度上是由 ATS 驅動的。但也要注意這裡許多細分市場利潤的獲利能力。

So my question is, are these improvements that I'm seeing here, are these sustainable do you think as we move into 2025 or was there something about the third quarter that helped lift profitability here like maybe a working days dynamic or something like that, that isn't necessarily expected to carry forward.

所以我的問題是，我在這裡看到的這些改進是否可持續，您認為隨著我們進入2025 年，這些改進是否可持續，或者第三季度是否有一些因素有助於提高這裡的盈利能力，例如工作日動態或類似的東西，這不一定會持續下去。

No. I mean I don't think there was anything unusual. I think we're just performing at a high level our resilience and what we've been talking about quarter after quarter is really coming true. We're excited about the results as you are, and it's really nice, Tim, as you point out, when you could see it across the board like this. So there's no watch-outs ahead for us. Earl just talked about M&D going to kind of trend down a little bit year-over-year. But you pull that out of M&D and you're going to be back to mid to high single-digit growth. So we're feeling good across the board.

不，我的意思是我不認為有什麼異常。我認為我們只是在高水準上表現出我們的韌性，而我們每個季度都在談論的事情確實正在成為現實。我們對你的結果感到興奮，蒂姆，正如你所指出的，當你能像這樣全面地看到它時，這真的很好。所以我們沒有什麼好警惕的。 Earl 剛剛談到 M&D 的趨勢將比去年同期略有下降。但如果你將其從 M&D 中剔除，你將恢復到中高個位數成長。所以我們整體感覺良好。

Okay. Thank you, Scott. I'll update my expectations on profitability here in the model and congrats on the nice quarter. Thank you.

好的。謝謝你，斯科特。我將在模型中更新我對盈利能力的預期，並祝賀這個美好的季度。謝謝。

Thanks, Tim.

謝謝，蒂姆。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

Faiza Alwy，德意志銀行。

Yes. Hi. Good morning. Thank you. So I wanted to follow up on the margin question. I made the same observation as I was looking at numbers this morning. And maybe I know you mentioned sort of labor efficiencies a few times. Maybe talk a bit more about like what's driving that? Are you seeing sort of wage rates come down or talk about some of the other dynamics that are helping margins across the board at this point?

是的。你好。早安.謝謝。所以我想跟進保證金問題。今天早上我在查看數字時也做出了同樣的觀察。也許我知道您多次提到勞動效率。也許更多地談談是什麼推動了這一點？您是否看到工資率有所下降，或者談論目前全面提高利潤率的其他一些動態？

Sure. That's great. So, yes, there's a couple of dynamics here. First on the labor front, we're feeling really good because wages haven't been rising to the same extent as they were in the last couple of years, right. And that's been widely publicized. You can read about that.

當然。那太棒了。所以，是的，這裡有一些動態。首先在勞動力方面，我們感覺非常好，因為工資沒有像過去幾年那樣上漲，對吧。這已經被廣泛宣傳。你可以閱讀相關內容。

So that's playing through for us. And also availability of labor is getting much better for us as well in terms of getting people on board quicker. And so that's been another great tailwind. And lastly, our workforce productivity optimization tool has been really great.

所以這對我們來說是很重要的。此外，我們的勞動力供應也變得越來越好，可以讓人們更快加入。所以這是另一個巨大的推動力。最後，我們的員工生產力優化工具非常出色。

And what that really does it lets one of our project managers whose and I'll give you like kind of anecdotal. A project manager is managing a 500,000 square foot building and he's looking at his labor and the productivity of the labor.

這真正的作用是讓我們的一位專案經理和我告訴你一些軼事。一位專案經理正在管理一座 50 萬平方英尺的建築，他正在關注他的勞動力和勞動力的生產力。

And now that project manager can compare it to another 500,000 square foot building, either in their market or in a different market, and it helps give them kind of a true north about how efficient they are. And it could be as simple as making a course correction or actually just getting on the phone with the other project manager and ask them what they're doing.

現在，專案經理可以將其與另一座 500,000 平方英尺的建築進行比較，無論是在他們的市場還是在不同的市場，這有助於讓他們真正了解自己的效率。它可以像進行路線修正一樣簡單，或者實際上只是與其他專案經理通電話並詢問他們在做什麼。

So it's just starting up now. I'd say I think the good news from my standpoint is we're at early, early stages in the rollout. So there's a lot more white space to go. So I think it's those dynamics, Faiza.

所以現在才剛開始。我想說，從我的角度來看，好消息是我們正處於推出的早期階段。所以還有更多的空白空間。所以我認為這就是這些動力，Faiza。

Great. That's very helpful. And then on the ATS business, I think, you're -- if I'm not wrong, I think you're alluding to maybe revenues being a bit lumpy from here. So talk a bit more about how you're thinking about that business? I know previously you've mentioned sort of what the backlog might be. Was there something in the quarter that was -- that kind of came in earlier? And just a bit more color on how we should expect the top line trends from here.

偉大的。這非常有幫助。然後，關於 ATS 業務，我認為，如果我沒記錯的話，我認為您是在暗示，這裡的收入可能有點不穩定。那麼請多談談您對這項業務的看法？我知道您之前已經提到過積壓可能是什麼。本季是否有某種較早出現的情況？關於我們應該如何預期這裡的頂線趨勢，還有更多的色彩。

Sure. I think we're all kind of getting used to ATS being so much project driven now with our microgrid business. And there's so much that we can predict, but also things that we can predict, right. Because think of it as construction projects and a lot of it outdoors.

當然。我認為我們都已經習慣了 ATS 在我們的微電網業務中受到如此多的專案驅動。我們可以預測的事情太多了，但也有一些事情是我們可以預測的，對吧。因為可以將其視為建築項目，其中許多都是在戶外進行的。

So depending on the weather, we may get a delay depending on a community issuing a permit at a given meeting that we're projecting them to issue the permit on and that meeting gets delayed by a month. So there are things that are out of our control.

因此，根據天氣情況，我們可能會延遲，具體取決於社區在特定會議上頒發許可證，我們預計他們會在該會議上頒發許可證，而該會議將延遲一個月。所以有些事情是我們無法控制的。

But when we talk about our backlog being strong, that's booked business, and it's really just a question of timing. So for us, we get really comforted by a backlog that's strong and RavenVolt's backlog has never been stronger. And because it's money in the bank.

但當我們談論我們的積壓情況很嚴重時，這就是預訂業務，這實際上只是一個時間問題。因此，對我們來說，我們對大量的積壓感到非常欣慰，而 RavenVolt 的積壓從未如此強大。因為這是銀行裡的錢。

It's just a question of when we're cashing the check to use the analogy. So it's something we're getting used to, but we have good line of sight kind of month-to-month, but sometimes it just drops into a different quarter. But we feel really good about Q4 now, at least the line of sight that we have.

這只是我們何時兌現支票以使用類比的問題。所以這是我們已經習慣的事情，但我們每個月都有良好的視線，但有時它只是下降到不同的季度。但我們現在對第四季感覺非常好，至少是我們的視線。

Excellent. Thank you so much.

出色的。太感謝了。

Jasper Bibb, Truist Securities.

賈斯珀·比伯 (Jasper Bibb)，Truist 證券公司。

Hey, good morning, guys. I wanted to ask about the B&I segment. Just any detail on segment revenue expectations for the fourth quarter. I think the prior view you had was low single-digit decline for the year, three quarters in seem to be running at the high end of that range. So any change there on where you think that business is going to end up in fiscal '24?

嘿，早上好，夥計們。我想問一下 B&I 部分的情況。只是有關第四季度部門收入預期的任何細節。我認為您之前的觀點是今年的低個位數下降，三個季度似乎處於該範圍的高端。那麼，您認為 24 財年業務的最終結果有什麼變化嗎？

Yes. Look, I think, I love the way we're performing in B&I, right. It just shows the resilience, being down 1% year-over-year in this segment when every headline is talking about commercial real estate, we're really proud of. And it looks like the trends are starting to turn up as I talked about in my opening remarks.

是的。聽著，我想，我喜歡我們在 B&I 的表演方式，對吧。它只是顯示了韌性，當每個頭條新聞都在談論商業房地產時，這一領域的同比下降了 1%，我們對此感到非常自豪。正如我在開場白中談到的那樣，趨勢似乎開始出現。

So we're not ready to call it as being over and that we're going to start rebounding to positive growth yet. I think we'll have a better line of sight to that, probably in the middle of next year to be safe. I think as more and more tenants have their leases start coming due and decide how much space they're taking or how much they're ramping down.

因此，我們還沒有準備好稱其為結束，我們將開始反彈至正成長。我認為為了安全起見，我們可能會在明年年中對此有更好的視野。我認為，隨著越來越多的租戶的租約開始到期，並決定他們佔用多少空間或減少多少空間。

But we feel really good about the segment and we're as proud of this as anything we've done in the last few years because if someone would have told us in two or three years from now, there's going to be a massive reset in commercial real estate but your revenues are only going to be down 1%.

但我們對這個細分市場感覺非常好，我們對此感到自豪，就像我們過去幾年所做的任何事情一樣，因為如果有人在兩三年後告訴我們，那麼將會有大規模的重置商業地產，但你的收入只會下降1%。

It would be hard to believe, right. So again I think this is all normalized right now. And we're just going to ride through the next few months, and hopefully, we stay exactly in this zone, but we're optimistic.

很難相信，對吧。所以我再次認為現在這一切都已經正常化了。我們將度過接下來的幾個月，希望我們能完全保持在這個區域，但我們很樂觀。

Thanks. That makes sense. And then you mentioned some of the moving pieces in the ATS in response to an earlier question. Just kind of hoping to get an update on maybe isolate a $180 million contract there. I guess how has that ramped up so far? And when do you expect that contract will hit the full, I guess, $90 million a year run rate?

謝謝。這是有道理的。然後您在回答先前的問題時提到了 ATS 中的一些動態內容。只是希望能得到有關那裡可能有 1.8 億美元合約的最新消息。我想到目前為止，這種情況是如何增加的？您預計該合約何時能達到每年 9000 萬美元的全額運行率？

Sure. So it's a contract that will run through '26 through at least the beginning of '26. And it's on a cadence. I think we said it's over 180 sites. So just think about kind of an even ramp from now until maybe Q1 of '26 and that can move a little bit, but it's baked into our numbers and how we're thinking about certainly the finish of this year and as we start or actually conclude our budgeting process for next year.

當然。因此，這份合約將持續到 26 年，至少到 26 年初。而且是有節奏的。我想我們說過有超過 180 個站點。因此，只要考慮一下從現在到 26 年第一季的均勻增長，這可能會有一點變化，但它已融入我們的數字以及我們如何考慮今年的結束以及我們開始或實際上的情況結束我們明年的預算流程。

Thank you, Scott.

謝謝你，斯科特。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Josh Chan, UBS.

喬許陳，瑞銀。

Hi. Good morning, Scott and Earl. Congrats on a good quarter.

你好。早上好，史考特和厄爾。恭喜季度表現良好。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Hi. Yes. So you mentioned data center several times in your prepared remarks. Is there a way that you can triangulate for us? What's your data center exposure? I know it might go in a couple of different segments, but some way to triangulate that would be helpful. Thank you.

你好。是的。所以您在準備好的發言中多次提到了資料中心。有什麼方法可以幫我們做三角測量嗎？您的資料中心暴露程度如何？我知道它可能分為幾個不同的部分，但以某種方式進行三角測量會很有幫助。謝謝。

Sure. It really runs across two of our segments. It runs across ATS and M&D and M&D is more handling clients that have big data centers within their facilities, whereas ATS is more project-driven where we're supporting mission-critical sites either through our electrical work or mechanical work or actually through microgrids. So it runs through both.

當然。它確實貫穿了我們的兩個細分市場。它跨越 ATS 和 M&D，M&D 更傾向於處理在其設施內擁有大數據中心的客戶，而 ATS 更受專案驅動，我們透過電力工作或機械工作或實際上透過微電網來支援關鍵任務站點。所以它貫穿兩者。

But I mean to put it in context, right, the mission-critical business right now is nascent for us. We're, call it, sub $250 million in revenue on our $8 plus billion. But, I mean, we're so excited. You saw us leaning in with the acquisition of Quality Uptime Services that does UPS power, which is uninterrupted power, which every data center needs in terms of backup power and the team there designs and installs UPS.

但我的意思是把它放在上下文中，對吧，現在關鍵任務業務對我們來說還處於新生階段。我們的收入超過 8 億美元，而我們的收入不到 2.5 億美元。但是，我的意思是，我們非常興奮。您看到我們傾向於收購提供 UPS 電源的 Quality Uptime Services，這是一種不間斷電源，每個資料中心都需要備用電源，而且那裡的團隊設計和安裝 UPS。

It's exactly where you want to be in the new AI data center generation. So we're really excited about how that's going to grow as well. But it is good to kind of put the revenue number in context to the enterprise.

這正是您想要在新一代人工智慧資料中心中實現的目標。因此，我們對它的發展也感到非常興奮。但最好將收入數字與企業連結起來。

Great. Thank you for that color. And then maybe specifically on M&D. I guess I was under the impression that margins might be pressured by the rebalancing, but you turned out to have a very strong margin quarter. So I guess what's the source of that strength? And as the rebalancing potentially ramps in the coming quarters, could margins sustain at current levels or will there be some pressure?

偉大的。謝謝你的那個顏色。然後也許專門針對 M&D。我想我的印像是，利潤率可能會受到再平衡的壓力，但事實證明，你的季度利潤率非常強勁。那我想這種力量的來源是什麼呢？隨著未來幾季再平衡可能加速，利潤率能否維持在當前水平，還是會面臨一些壓力？

There'll be a little bit of compression. Next quarter is the quarter that will have the full effect of the rebalancing. But we interestingly, we're not looking at it as that dramatic internally because first of all, that client is still one of our biggest clients, and we're already starting to grow with them, again, believe it or not, after the rebalancing because we like to believe we're best-in-class.

會有一點壓縮。下個季度將是再平衡發揮全部作用的季度。但有趣的是，我們在內部並沒有將其視為那麼戲劇性，因為首先，該客戶仍然是我們最大的客戶之一，無論您相信與否，我們已經開始與他們一起成長。願意相信我們是同類中最好的。

So that's a good tailwind for us. And then the rest of the business is doing so well. You guys know about the trends with manufacturing and onshoring. And we're squarely in the middle of that. We are really deep into the semiconductor market.

所以這對我們來說是一個很好的推動力。然後其他業務也做得很好。你們了解製造和外包的趨勢。我們正處於其中。我們確實深入半導體市場。

I mean, literally, we're in Korea meeting with companies that are moving over here. So the M&D segment is going to be so powerful for us over the next few years. And this rebalancing is for us. We're thinking this is such a small bump in the road. And again we love the fact that we're picking up some sites. So it's good stuff.

我的意思是，從字面上看，我們正在韓國與搬到這裡的公司會面。因此，研發部門在未來幾年對我們來說將非常強大。這種重新平衡是為了我們。我們認為這只是路上的一個小坎坷。我們再次喜歡我們正在挑選一些網站的事實。所以這是個好東西。

Great. Thank you for your time and congrats on a good quarter.

偉大的。感謝您的寶貴時間，並祝賀您度過了一個美好的季度。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

David Silver, CL King & Associates.

David Silver，CL King & Associates。

Yes, hi. Thank you. First question would be about the contingent consideration adjustment for RavenVolt. So I was wondering if you could put the $37 million adjustment this quarter into context. In other words, is that kind of a mark-to-market to get you caught up to where RavenVolt's year-to-date performances.

是的，嗨。謝謝。第一個問題是關於 RavenVolt 的或有對價調整。所以我想知道您是否可以將本季 3700 萬美元的調整放在背景中。換句話說，這是一種按市值計價的方式，可以讓您了解 RavenVolt 年初至今的表現。

Is that an estimate for the full, I believe it's a calendar year calculation or is this something that extends beyond this year? In other words, is it a judgment about not just the next few months or the current year for the incentive calculations and whatnot, but something beyond that. So just what is captured in the $37 million adjustment this quarter? Thank you.

這是對完整的估計，我相信這是一個日曆年的計算，還是超出了今年的計算？換句話說，它是否不僅僅是對未來幾個月或今年的激勵計算等的判斷，而是對除此之外的其他東西的判斷。那麼本季 3700 萬美元的調整到底反映了什麼？謝謝。

Yes. No, thanks for the question, David. So we look at this every quarter to assess kind of where RavenVolt forecast is over the three-year period. And so if you think about it, this was an earn-out over a three-year period. So we actually have two years. It's on a calendar year basis, so we have '24 and '25.

是的。不，謝謝你的提問，大衛。因此，我們每季都會對此進行一次評估，以評估 RavenVolt 的預測在三年期間的情況。因此，如果你仔細想想，這是三年期間的收益。所以我們其實還有兩年的時間。它是按日曆年計算的，所以我們有“24”和“25”。

And so when we look at their projections over that period, we exactly to your point, we actually do a mark-to-market. And so this is looking at the full extent over that next two-year period as opposed to just this year.

因此，當我們查看他們對該時期的預測時，我們完全同意您的觀點，我們實際上是按市值計價的。因此，這著眼於未來兩年的全部範圍，而不是僅僅今年。

So good news is that versus where they're trending last year where they actually had a slow start. The business has definitely picked up with incremental business and new clients. So we feel very good where RavenVolt is positioned and really happy to actually have this earnout.

好消息是，與去年的趨勢相比，他們實際上起步緩慢。隨著業務的增量和新客戶的增加，該業務肯定有所回升。因此，我們對 RavenVolt 的定位感覺非常好，很高興能夠真正獲得這筆收益。

Okay. Great. Thank you for that. This next question, I guess, would be a little bit new business and then old business kind of question. But firstly I was just wondering if you could update us on your year-to-date new business success. I think you said for the first six months of this fiscal year, you were at $1 billion.

好的。偉大的。謝謝你。我想，下一個問題將是一個有點新業務的問題，然後是舊業務問題。但首先我想知道您是否可以向我們介紹您今年迄今新業務的成功情況。我想你說過本財年的前六個月，你的收入是 10 億美元。

Just wondering where do you think you might end up the year at or where were you at the end of the third quarter? And then more to the point, Scott, I heard you say something, I believe, for the first time this year, this time versus the few years that I've been covering you. But you talked about what would the word be firing some customers are walking away from some business.

只是想知道您認為今年結束時的情況或第三季末的情況如何？更重要的是，斯科特，我相信這是今年第一次聽到你說了些什麼，這與我多年來一直報道你的情況相比。但你談到了解僱一些客戶正在離開某些業務的詞是什麼。

So when I first started listening to your conference calls, you used to tout your very high retention rates pretty regularly. And your comments this period about opting to walk away from some business due to returns and whatnot. I mean I think that's a change in your philosophy as to some extent.

因此，當我第一次開始聽你們的電話會議時，你們經常吹噓自己非常高的保留率。以及您這段時期關於由於退貨等原因而選擇放棄某些業務的評論。我的意思是，我認為這在某種程度上是你的哲學的改變。

So I was just wondering if you could kind of talk about maybe the evolution or the shift in how you're thinking about retaining new business versus identifying and targeting, sorry, targeting new business versus opting to not service some of your current portfolio?

所以我只是想知道您是否可以談談您在保留新業務與識別和定位方面的思考方式的演變或轉變，抱歉，瞄準新業務與選擇不為您當前的某些產品組合提供服務？

Sure, sure. So we're not going to update at this moment our sales, but we did hit a record, as you noted last quarter, we do the midpoint in year-end, but we are tracking to have another record year. I'll just leave it at that. We're doing really well on the new business front.

當然，當然。因此，我們目前不打算更新我們的銷售額，但我們確實創下了紀錄，正如您在上個季度指出的那樣，我們在年底實現了中點，但我們正在追踪另一個創紀錄的年份。我就這樣吧。我們在新業務方面做得非常好。

And the firing customers, it's not really quite that dramatic as firing customer. But what will happen is we have thresholds of profitability that we have to meet and we've been really resolved about that. And sometimes it happens on a larger scale than on a micro scale because it does happen all the time. We take a lot of pride, David, in what we're doing here.

而解僱客戶，並沒有解僱客戶那麼戲劇化。但將會發生的是，我們必須滿足獲利能力的門檻，而我們已經真正解決了這個問題。有時它發生的規模比微觀規模更大，因為它確實一直在發生。大衛，我們對我們在這裡所做的事情感到非常自豪。

And if we're not getting the value that we thought, we just we will walk away. And I think that says a lot about what we're doing and the value that we're adding. So every now and then we'd just like to point that out to make sure you guys all know that we do not see ourselves as a commodity business.

如果我們沒有得到我們想像的價值，我們就會走開。我認為這充分說明了我們正在做的事情以及我們正在增加的價值。因此，我們時不時地想指出這一點，以確保你們都知道我們並不將自己視為商品企業。

Tate Sullivan, Maxim Group.

泰特·沙利文，馬克西姆集團。

Hi. Thank you. Scott, it's great to hear the progress and optimism about your microgrid business. Can you roughly quantify is it mostly projects with existing clients or not or is it largely cross-selling efforts, please?

你好。謝謝。斯科特，很高興聽到您的微電網業務的進展和樂觀情緒。您能否粗略地量化一下它是否主要是與現有客戶的項目，還是主要是交叉銷售工作？

It's mostly new clients, which is super exciting, but it's a strong mix. It's great because we bought this business and with that came a portfolio of clients, and we got established and now we're starting to cross-sell. We're starting to have conversations and interestingly, it's popping up and more and more bids for other things where we're seeing EV and microgrids combined together.

大部分都是新客戶，這非常令人興奮，但這是一個強大的組合。這很棒，因為我們買了這家公司，隨之而來的是一群客戶，我們已經站穩腳跟，現在我們開始交叉銷售。我們開始進行對話，有趣的是，它突然出現，並且對我們看到電動車和微電網結合在一起的其他事物的投標越來越多。

So there's a lot of good stuff happening around the microgrid business. But to your point, it's a mix. And when we look at the future and the ability to sell into our $8 billion customer base, it gets us really, really excited. But again, it's a new business for us. And we're really putting points on the board now and we have a really strong backlog.

因此，微電網業務正在發生很多好事。但就你而言，這是一個混合體。當我們展望未來以及向 80 億美元客戶群銷售產品的能力時，我們真的非常非常興奮。但這對我們來說又是一項新業務。我們現在確實在董事會上提出了意見，而且我們的積壓工作非常多。

So understand the opportunity, but can it lead to some electrical subcontracting work for you for the rest of the building or has it in some cases?

因此，請了解這個機會，但它是否會為您帶來建築物其餘部分的一些電氣分包工作，或者在某些情況下會發生這種情況？

Well, we do that already. We have an electrical division in our ATS group. That's a separate segment for us. And we're doing some contracted work all the time and now that we added Quality Uptime Services. It's just another tool in the toolbox to say, not only can we test your infrastructure and do mission-critical work there, but we could actually design and install UPS systems. We could do retrofits. We could do underfloor cleaning in the data center. We're really becoming a turnkey data center operator, which has been phenomenal.

嗯，我們已經這樣做了。我們的 ATS 集團有一個電氣部門。這對我們來說是一個單獨的部分。我們一直在做一些合約工作，現在我們增加了優質正常運行時間服務。它只是工具箱中的另一個工具，我們不僅可以測試您的基礎設施並在那裡完成關鍵任務工作，而且我們實際上可以設計和安裝 UPS 系統。我們可以進行改造。我們可以在資料中心進行地板下清潔。我們真正成為了交鑰匙資料中心運營商，這是驚人的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sure.

當然。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

Faiza Alwy，德意志銀行。

Hi. Thank you. I just had a follow-up. I wanted to talk about capital allocation. And I know you acquired a company back in June. So curious around how you're thinking about M&A versus cash return to shareholders? What did you like about that business? And should we expect more M&A from here?

你好。謝謝。我剛剛進行了後續行動。我想談談資本配置。我知道你在六月收購了一家公司。對您如何看待併購與股東現金回報感到好奇？您喜歡那項業務的哪些面向？我們是否應該期待更多的併購？

Yes. I mean I can start off, Faiza. M&A continues to be part of our growth strategy and that was signified with the latest acquisition that you just mentioned of Quality Uptime. So we will continue to be balanced with our capital allocation between accretive M&A opportunities as well as share buyback.

是的。我的意思是我可以開始了，Faiza。併購仍然是我們成長策略的一部分，您剛才提到的 Quality Uptime 最新收購就體現了這一點。因此，我們將繼續在增值併購機會和股票回購之間平衡資本配置。

Obviously, we did a significant amount of share buyback last year, where we probably reduced our share count by 5% and as we actually saw some price dislocation. So we took advantage of that. But based on where we are right now, we are really happy not only with our current leverage, but also our capital allocation.

顯然，我們去年進行了大量股票回購，我們的股票數量可能減少了 5%，而且我們實際上看到了一些價格錯位。所以我們利用了這一點。但根據我們目前的情況，我們不僅對目前的槓桿率感到滿意，而且對我們的資本配置也感到滿意。

All right. Great. Thank you.

好的。偉大的。謝謝。

Thanks Faiza.

謝謝法伊扎。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Salmirs for any final comments.

謝謝。女士們先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我將把發言權交還給薩爾米爾斯先生，徵求最後的意見。

I just wanted to thank everybody for listening and participating on the call today. We're excited about our results and optimistic about the future. And hope everybody had a really good summer and is excited about the fall and we'll be back to you with Q4 soon. Thanks, everybody.

我只是想感謝大家今天收聽和參與電話會議。我們對我們的成果感到興奮，並對未來感到樂觀。希望每個人都度過了一個美好的夏天，並對秋天感到興奮，我們很快就會在第四季度與您聯繫。謝謝大家。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。